


From Paris With Love

by VirginiasWolf



Series: Life Moves On [2]
Category: Death in Paradise
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 09:42:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20329072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VirginiasWolf/pseuds/VirginiasWolf
Summary: Richard continues to have problems with self-worth on a strange date with Camille.Part of the Life Moves On series. This takes place shortly after Hopeless Wanderer and makes reference to some events from that story, so it might be helpful to have read that.





	From Paris With Love

**Author's Note:**

> First few paragraphs represent Richard's views on the date and his self worth and in no way reflect how Camille (or the writer) feel about him or the date.

Surely this date is just Camille's pity offering. Yes, she'd told Richard that she loved him and would do anything to keep from losing him, but that had all been before he'd sobbed like some snotty, bratty little kid in her arms. He'd absolutely needed the cathartic moment from the tears, but he can't imagine that his swollen red face has left Camille anything other than repulsed.

  
She had bought up the question of going on a date the next day, which made it even more obvious that she was asking him out from pity, and perhaps an attempt to politely stem his suicidal urges. At the end of the night, she'll find a graceful way to tell him that romantically they can't work out and they should just continue to be friends.

  
Oh, and it isn't even a public date. Due to the fact that they are coworkers who may have to be put in the field working undercover together and Camille knows that her ex, Charles, has a jealousy streak a mile wide and a dislike for Richard, she had claimed that they couldn't exactly be seen out romantically together in public. Of course, the other subtext that Richard was sure she'd purposely not said out loud was that all her Parisian friends would probably never respect her again if they saw her dating someone so repulsive. So the "date" is really just going to be her coming to his hotel room, them eating dinner together again and then there are no specific plans for the night. Likely to make it easier for her to back out.

  
Richard however, realizes that he is enough of a fool that until Camille reveals it to be otherwise, he's going to treat this like a real date and perhaps even dress to impress her.

  
-  
Camille had seen in Richard's eyes that he had assumed that her asking him out on a date was a gesture of pity. It probably hadn't helped that she'd asked him out only hours after his breakdown and that they couldn't actually go on a public date due to potential work problems arising, but Camille had panicked seeing him like that. At that moment she'd fully realized that her dream upon leaving Saint Marie hadn't been to return to Paris and work for INTERPOL. In fact, she was already half bored with that and ready to work somewhere else and she hadn't even been given fieldwork yet. Her dream had been having him back. It had been one that she hadn't dared speak aloud, because back in Saint Marie, she'd believed her heart was being led to a dead man. Back during Hurricane Irma, she'd told Richard that he didn't have to solve his puzzles alone anymore because he had her, and she still follows those words. She intends to have his everything, including the days when he is so scared and helpless that he barely believes he deserves to be alive, and she wants him to know that.

  
Except, for all his sheer brilliance, Richard isn't going to be an easy sell. It won't be enough to show up dressed beautifully. To kiss him. To tell him that she wants him. Even to make love to him. Tonight, she will have to bring her absolute best game, and it will be more work than she's ever previously had to do on a date, but it will all be worth it in the end.

  
She looks different than she did on Saint Marie. Kinky hair has been straightened and her provided wardrobe is more business-woman oriented, but she's sure there must still be something in her closet that can absolutely leave Richard speechless in the best possible way. In the end, she decides on a form-hugging short-sleeved black dress with a neckline that reveals an almost dangerous amount of cleavage. She also applies a delicate, floral perfume to her wrists and her cleavage, hoping that it will be just the right extra touch to make him take notice and know it was all done for him.

  
Their rooms are just across the hall from each other, so she doesn't have far to go to get to him. He'd given her the spare copy of his room key, so she is able to let herself in and does so slightly early, while he is still in the shower. She actually misses the days on Saint Marie when she'd show up to retrieve him for work and he'd still be in his pajamas. She'd always pretend it was accidental overeagerness to start the day, but it had in reality been about getting to spend those extra moments with the real Richard; the one he would always hide behind the suit and tie.

  
Now, she sits quietly on the bed. As she waits for him to come out of the shower she can't help but wonder if this particular piece of furniture will be used for any other activities tonight.

  
After a few minutes, Richard exits the bathroom. He doesn't see her at first, and the towel initially drops to the floor as he prepares to go over to his closet. After a second she clears her throat, and he immediately flushes and pulls the towel back up around his waist. Although he is now covered again, she's already seen enough to know that she definitely will do whatever she can to make sure the night does go in that direction and that her choice to purchase a larger size of condom at the nearby bodega hadn't been remotely misguided.

  
"Camille. You're-uh, you're early." His eyes go wide as he takes in the dress, and his gaze lingers for a moment too long at her cleavage. Normally it would be awkward to know that her date was openly ogling her, but hadn't she just been doing the same thing to him, and she'd specifically chosen this particular dress because she knows that Richard seems to be a breast man. So yes, she actually wants the satisfaction of knowing that for all his awkward evasiveness, he is still a red-blooded heterosexual man who has wants and desires and they happen to include her.

  
Part of her just wants to tell him to take her right now, sex first, meal and typical date chit chat after, but won't that just fuel his belief that she's using him? No, Camille won't try to seduce Richard before dinner, at least not until they've had a few dates together. This is fine though because when it comes down to it, she'd rather spend her evening just talking with him than spend it with anyone else.

  
While she is deep in her thoughts, Richard manages to pick out his clothes and go back in the bathroom to finish dressing and now he emerges again wearing a pressed white shirt with a grey jacket and grey dress pants. There is no tie involved and he has chosen to leave the top two buttons of his shirt undone which delights her.

  
Camille immediately stands up to greet him. "Very handsome," she assures him while giving him an appreciative once over.

  
"You look hand-I mean beautiful as well."

  
She likes seeing him flustered, but for now, it wouldn't be fair to continue to tease, so she pretends she didn't hear him almost call her handsome. "Shall we call room service?"

  
They order food, and a nice bottle of wine, and over the meal Camille first talks about her days training here in Paris, and then manages to convince Richard to discuss the happier parts of his own training days.

  
After finishing her food, Camille chooses to take a risk and grabs Richard's hand across the table while he's talking. She half expects him to flinch away, but surprisingly he doesn't and continues talking, even when she begins gently stroking his wrist scar with her thumb.

  
Suddenly, Camille glances out the window at the distant view of the Eiffel Tower and gets an idea which causes her to rise from her seat and go over the radio to turn on a romantic instrumental station.

  
Richard stares at her in confused amusement for a moment as she motions for him to stand as well. "Camille, what are you doing?"

  
"We are going to dance together."

  
At first, he seems staunchly against it, "I don't dance."

  
"Oh come on, there is no audience, and don't you want to be able to tell Dwayne that on our first date you danced with me in front of the Eiffel Tower?"

  
At this comment, Richard shakes his head fondly, "Technically we would be in front of a window."

  
"Tonight you are not allowed to be technical Richard Poole. You are on a date with a beautiful woman and you are going to dance with her in front of a window that looks out towards the Eiffel Tower. C'mon, out of the seat with you." Camille tugs at Richard's hands pulling him into a standing position.

  
Despite his initial resistance he gives in and allows her to lead him in front of the window. She places her arms around his shoulders and with some initial nervousness, he places his around her waist. At first, his movements are a bit slow and stiff, and she can feel his heart racing through his shirt at their closeness, but soon he seems to gain more confidence as Camille smiles up at him.

  
After several minutes of this, he suddenly grows nervous again. "Camille, can I umm-" he falters for a moment.

  
Camille is almost certain she knows what he is asking, even if he can't get the words out and she tilts her head up to him in an inviting gesture that she hopes even he can read.

  
Thankfully, they've both read each other correctly, and his mouth captures hers. Initially, the kiss is nervous and very chaste, but Camille tries to make it clear that she absolutely wants more, both from the kiss and from him in general, by pressing her body up against his.

  
His lips part in surprise and she takes full advantage of this, slipping her tongue into his mouth. They exchange deep, hungry kisses until they are both weak for air and she can also feel a certain part of his body reacting.

  
"Wait," Camille pulls away from him and for a moment she reads the disappointment on his face and worries his mind is about to go exactly where she doesn't want it to go, so she quickly chooses to reassure him. "I believe we are both adults who understand exactly how risky unprotected sex could be."

  
With this, Camille walks over to the bedside table and places a strip of unopened condoms on it. She isn't sure exactly how many they'll need, but she's full of energy and prepared to go for as long as he can handle. "Now, I believe we have something to get back to. Come here."

  
As his lips meet hers again, she pulls him out of his suit jacket and tosses it behind them before going to work on his shirt. Once that article is also tossed aside, her hands roam his bare chest, stroking at the covering of hair before she manages to locate the scar left over from the outside attempt on his life. For a moment she almost chokes up at the thought of how much the world has been against someone so kind and gentle. She won't choke up now though. Now, she will hold him and cherish him and make sure that he knows that at least one person is in his corner. Oh, and she will also have hopefully mind-blowing sex with him.

  
Having shaken out her unpleasant emotions, Camille lets her mind return to the now. Richard's hands are on the zipper of her dress, but he seems somewhat unsure about what he should do.

  
Smiling, Camille leans in to whisper "You're supposed to unzip it."

  
Richard huffs and glares at her for a second, but then his fingers work quickly to undo her zipper.

  
Camille slides out of the dress easily, letting it drop to the floor revealing that she is completely nude beneath it.

  
"Wow," Richard breathes shakily as he steps back to take her in. His eyes are lit with desire. Instead of continuing to be nervous, he seems emboldened now, and as he pulls her back to him, one of his hands reaches between her thighs and begins to stroke over her most intimate area.

  
"Merde," Camille hisses biting at her bottom lip. He's teasing her now, holding some form of release just out of her reach and she hates him for it. "You are a very rude man Richard Poole."

  
"I think we've already established that," he whispers in her ear as two fingers dip inside of her, causing her to shudder with delight.

  
She wants to be on the bed now though, so she manages to pull away from him, hoping that he'll take the hint and follow her and perhaps even continue what he was doing before with his fingers.

  
He takes half the hint and does follow her to the bed, but his hand is no longer where she wants it to be, and so she comes up with her own solution and reaches for his belt before nimbly pulling off his trousers and undergarments.

  
This time he is the one who pulls away, and for a second she's hurt until she realizes he is reaching for a condom.

  
"Let me do it," she instructs, sitting up and taking the length of him in her hand. She leans in to plant an almost chaste kiss on his lips as an attempt to reassure him that she doesn't just want him for sex, she wants all of him.

  
As she pulls away and reaches for the condom, he stares at her in almost wonderment as if asking why she wants him.

  
Instead of responding, Camille simply slips the condom over him and kisses him again, this time far less chaste.

  
They fall back onto the bed and she raises her hips to accommodate him as he thrusts inside of her.

  
Melded together with him, it almost feels as if time slows down and there is only the two of them, and in a way maybe there is. At the very least, being with him is all that matters to her right now. His body is strong and undeniably real, and she relishes all the sensations he provides her with. His pace is slow and almost reverential and normally this would annoy her, but she's sure there will be many other times in which she will convince him to be fast and maybe a little aggressive, but now she likes that she gets to whisper devotions and comforts to him, and tonight those are more important.

  
When the act is finished, he rolls off of her and nestles into her side, laying his head on her chest as he had not so many nights ago when he'd laid his soul bare before her.  
Affectionately, she tousles his hair and leans down to kiss his forehead. "Je t'aime Richard."

  
From the lazy, half-smile he looks up at her with, she can tell he actually believes her words, and although she still has every intention of getting him to return the sentiment as soon as possible, right now, his belief is reward enough.


End file.
